As you scream into the web of silence...

"The Poet and the Pendulum" - Nearly fourteen minutes long. Will this be a "Rime of the Ancient Mariner", loved by almost all who hear it? Or will it be a "Red and the Black", loved by some, panned by others? Or is it just Nightwish's equivalent to "Sign of the Cross" - an epic opening an album? It's a daring move, and for an inexperienced band, often a shot in the foot. Well... let's see! Quiet opening that lasts for over a minute but sets the scene quite nicely. The buildup here is superb, erupting finally into some epic fucking music. The verse is great, Anette is a pretty competent vocalist. The chorus is pretty nice, too. I like how the music is even more theatrical than on previous albums. The vocals in the quieter piece are really great. There's a lot of great, theatrical shit happening between here and I'm all on board. The screaming bit comes out of nowhere but I actually think it works really well. Repeat of the chorus, then a cool spoken word before we get a nice pendulum swing + slice. The quiet bit following it is really nice and I like the soaring stuff that happens as it progresses. Really cool quiet ending to such a massive, audacious song. Maybe the chorus could be a tad better, but that's such a slight thing I don't even care. This is easily better than everything on the previous album combined ("Nemo" notwithstanding) and I think it's awesome. Good job, Nightwish, that risk paid off. 10/10

"Bye Bye Beautiful" - Really cool opening, nice Anette verse. Marco sounds better here, I think the vocals mesh better than on Once. Screamy chorus is screamy but not too bad. This one isn't perfect but it's still very good. I like it. 9/10

"Amaranth" - Nice piano opening before we launch right into a heavy riff. Really nice verses, cool pre-chorus, awesome chorus. Everything here is awesome, and Anette truly shows how good she is at singing. The accent shines through but damn can she use it to her advantage. 10/10

"Cadence of Her Last Breath" - Breathing, and then rising build-up before heavy riff + orchestration erupts. Cool verse, and then that chorus comes in and it just slays. The quiet bit after the instrumental section is cool and that awesome chorus comes in again and god is it good. This is another amazingly great song. Goddamn, this album is on a roll!10/10

"Master Passion Greed" - Cool opening before we barrel into an aggressive-as-fuck riff. Marco's singing again and it's pretty decent. Really frantic song with a simple but effective chorus. Honestly, giving Marco a song to sing on his own wasn't such a bad idea, because he does a pretty great job here. Took a moment to understand what was going on, but it's a pretty great song. Not quite perfect, but good enough. That rising ending is awesome. 9/10

"Eva" - Cool piano opening and verse with Anette back in full bloom. These lyrics are really intriguing. Slowly builds until the final chorus where it erupts in full storm. Great, great song. 10/10

"Sahara" - Really cool opening before erupting into that opening riff. Guitar sounds like it fits right into the desert. Plodding verses feel like a literal trip into the desert. The theatrics on this song are in full effect. There's even an ABBA-like bit near the center which I like. I was worried this song may have been reaching a bit too far, but god, it's awesome. Holy shit, I'm loving this album. 10/10

"Whoever Brings The Night" - Cool building opening. I like most of the song, but that chorus doesn't quite click with me. Nearly there, though. 9/10

"For the Heart I Once Had" - I mentioned ABBA earlier, and this song feels like a symph metal take on writing an ABBA song. I love that verse and the chorus is epic in every way. This is exactly what I wanted from a song with that title and more. I love it. 10/10

"The Islander" - Stormy opening that builds up quietly. Marco comes in with a verse and it actually works really well. Really nice acoustic-based song. The chorus doesn't quite knock it out of the park, but the rest of the song is pretty great. 9/10

"Last of the Wilds" - Building, building - ah, there we go! This opening is awesome. Parts of this song feel like Buckethead could've done it, only with different instruments. For an instrumental, this is one kick-ass song. 10/10

"7 Days to the Wolves" - Cool drum beat as the orchestra rises and we launch into a pretty badass riff. Anette is great on the verse, and Marco works well in the chorus. I like the middle bit that brings out the fears of the wild quite well. It's not quite as good a song as most of the others here, but it's still very good. 9/10

"Meadows of Heaven" - Building orchestration and piano before Anette comes in. It gradually builds and each moment is better than the last. Perfect closer to an amazing album. 10/10

I thought that Nightwish would peak with Century Child and gently dwindle down, with some good songs here and there. Certainly Once felt like it was on that track. On that note, I went into Dark Passion Play fully expecting a decent but not-that-great release. I definitely wasn't expecting it to blow my mind. But. Holy. Fuck. It. Blew. My. Mind. Maybe it's how ambitious this album is that makes it succeed, because it's ambitious as fuck, it's long as fuck, and it opens with a goddamn thirteen-something minute song. But goddamn it fucking works!! This is easily the best Nightwish album yet and I have no idea how they'll ever be able to top this and I'm excited to see them try. My god this was good. Anette is a great vocalist, Marco works much better here, and Tuomas really upped the songwriting. I also think they finally hit perfection with the whole "symphonic metal" thing, because this is the most theatrical metal album I've ever heard. It's a monumental affair that just needs to be experienced. I love it. Holy shit, I love it.

As you scream into the web of silence...

Oh, another one I'd like recommend, @Diesel 11 (if you haven't heard them yet), is The Pretty Reckless. They've only released 3 albums so far, but all are very good. One of my favorite bands. Here's a song for you to see if they click with you. This one's also a very good one, possibly my favorite.

As you scream into the web of silence...

Back to the grunge scene for a band that wrote one of my favorite songs ever but otherwise, not one I've really given some listening time to. Blow it out your ass, it's...

VERUCA SALT - AMERICAN THIGHS

Album 14/365

Tracks:

"Get Back" - A slower, quieter sort of start, but I like that. It's a nice if not typical sort of opener to an album. Good song.

"All Hail Me" - A much more in-your-face sort of song, and I like it.

"Seether" - Love this song. Easily one of the best alt songs of all time, certainly a Top 5 from the grunge scene, and I'd say it's a good contender for a Top 50 of songs overall.

"Spiderman '79" - I like this dark riff a lot. Parts of this song almost feel like The Beatles could have written it. Pretty nice, dark song.

"Forsythia" - At times sleepy, at times wild. It's a really cool little song.

"Wolf" - An almost psychedelic song that utilizes good vocal harmonies and a slow pace to its advantage.

"Celebrate You" - Another slow, sleepy song that almost feels like an ABBA construction at times. Still pretty great.

"Fly" - No drumming and more atmospheric, watery bass and guitar that sounds great. Lofty, sad vocals work really well. Great song.

"Number One Blind" - Yep, another cool song. This one's heavier again but keeps some of the stuff the others had.

"Victrola" - Great vocals on a simple yet effective song. Good stuff.

"Twinstar" - Slower song again. Dreamy and calm.

"25" - It may be the longest song on here, but it keeps the attention quite well. Opening with a bang before slowing to a crawl, it's quite a moody 'epic'. I like it!

"Sleeping Where I Want" - Great, moody closer to a great, moody album.

"Seether" is the obvious highlight here, but it's not quite representative of the album as a whole. Where it's in your face and almost aggressive, a lot of the other songs are more laid-back. Overall it's quite a nice journey. I'd rate it over both Dirt and Core, and it may even rival Pearl Jam's Ten, which I think is a great album. Good stuff overall - these ladies are killers.

Pleb Hunter

So here's an something related to the issue I raised in the SURVIVOR DISCUSSION thread: Diesel is systematically reviewing the entire Nightwish discography and there's some discussion about it with regards to Diesel's opinions. However, the Nightwish thread is left limp a couple of pages back in Music Discussion instead of being used to discuss the discography. The next post in that thread will be an embedded YouTube video or a link to a Blabbermouth article without any discussion coming from it.

I applaud Diesel's efforts to explore new music and this is certainly not meant as a person attack, but it would be nice if Music Discussion doesn't end up being confined to one thread which will inevitably lead to copycat threads (remember when everyone started making Iron Maiden Top 50s a few years ago?). Every band thread will soon become a Facebook/Twitter feed if we're not careful.

As you scream into the web of silence...

Chaotic Energy

Also, holy shit, this sounds so similar to Psycho Motel that I wouldn't be surprised if they nicked stuff from it to create some of their songs. Particularly the chorus sounds like the chorus to "Hypocrisy". Anyway, this is better than Psycho Motel. 10/10

Chaotic Energy

Yeah, yeah. “Hypocrisy” was Gary Leiderman’s song anyway, and technically a B-side.

Personally, I can’t listen to more than 1 or 2 STP songs in one sitting. Not my thing. Weiland is often grating, the guitar playing is uninspired. I like “Tripping On A Hole...” a lot, and “Plush” and “Interstate Love Song” are OK, but the other stuff never grabbed me.

As you scream into the web of silence...

Been a few days, but I'm back... time for the epic Nightwish concept album!

NIGHTWISH - IMAGINAERUM

Albums 15/365

Tracks:

"Taikatalvi" - I like this music box kinda thing. The Finnish vocals are also quite nice. I like the whole storybook vibe of this song. It's also very wintry, which I think is awesome. This is a great opener and I hope the rest of the album can deliver as well. 9/10

"Storytime" - Ooh, I'm really this build-up into heaviness. Not sure if I like this guitar sound or not, but the verse is pretty awesome. The chorus I don't like as much - Anette sounds a bit too "poppy" for my liking. I like the stuff after the second chorus though, it's really epic and really awesome. I think that other than the chorus, this is a nearly perfect opening song, so I think it's good enough for a 9/10.

"Ghost River" - God, this song is awesome. Is this Marco's best performance yet? His vocals work quite well with Anette's and the song is a really aggressive one and I think it works quite well. Overall, I don't think there's a single thing wrong with it. Heavy shit. 10/10

"Slow, Love, Slow" - This is like a Nightwish melting pot. Jazz bass with orchestral bits woven through and some metal stuff near the end. I actually think it quite works (though it was a daring risk to try to pull off) but it doesn't quite grab me at the same time. 8/10

"I Want My Tears Back" - This opening is reminiscent of "Wish I Had An Angel". Verse is quite good. Chorus isn't outstanding. Not Marco's best performance. I don't think that the bagpipes work here. Don't think this song quite nails it, but there's enough here that I like to keep it at a solid 8/10.

"Scaretale" - Big opening devolves into Christmas town? I like the build-up following. Okay... so... Anette is awesome here, but this song is kind've a mess. It goes for entirely too many things and ends up being cheesy as hell. It's definitely one of the band's worst songs while still having some good moments... I'm torn at what to give it, but I think I've gotta round it down to a 6/10.

"Arabesque" - Really, really epic instrumental but... eh, it doesn't quite work as well as I'd like. Kinda bland without being terrible. 6/10

"Turn Loose The Mermaids" - A better song than the last two, but some of these lyrics just don't make sense. "I checked your teeth"? What? Not at the same level as the first five, unfortunately. 7/10

"Rest Calm" - A pretty heavy song that has a decent Marco verse, a cool Anette pre-chorus, and a weird real chorus that drops into an acoustic piece. It's anticlimactic but it works well enough. The real problem with this song is that it goes on for entirely too long. A full minute at least could've been shaved off and it would've been better. Otherwise it's pretty good. 8/10

"The Crow, The Owl And The Dove" - Not a great song, but it's fairly strong I guess. Kinda gets boring after a while. 7/10

"Last Ride of the Day" - A lot of this song is good, but it's also too... iffy for my taste. I like theatrics in music, but trying to create a musical carnival doesn't quite work. As a whole this song is good but not great. 7/10

"Song of Myself" - Fuck me. Half of this "song" isn't even a song, it's spoken word backed by music. The actual song is pretty cool, but goddamn, "Love" just drags on forever. Eugh. Big step down from "The Poet and the Pendulum". 6/10

"Imaginaerum" - An all-encompassing instrumental that brings the album to a close with repeats of pieces from the real songs. It'd work great in the credits to a movie, but it just doesn't here. "Song of Myself" needs an actual song with lyrics following it to bring this package to a close, and this just doesn't do it. It feels like we end with no real ending, and I hate that. Eugh. Also goes on for too long. Thank god this album's over though. Starting to grate on me. 5/10

The first three songs on here are pretty great, but the album just gradually dwindles down until it's completely boring. Too experimental for its own good, and too audacious for its own good. I mean, Dark Passion Play was audacious as well, but it delivered on every front. This... doesn't. Worst Nightwish album and I hope that they redeem themselves with their latest work.

As you scream into the web of silence...

Time to finish up Nightwish. Let's see how their most recent (and longest) album goes!

NIGHTWISH - ENDLESS FORMS MOST BEAUTIFUL

Album 16/365

Tracks:

"Shudder Before The Beautiful" - A pretty strong opening with a lot epic stuff going on. I like the evolutionary themes going on here, and where Imaginaerum was like a theatrical carnival show, this is like a steel machine coming to life. Floor is really good too. Not quite the most outstanding song ever, but it's very good. 9/10

"Weak Fantasy" - I like the message behind this song (how religion restricts people) and I think it's pretty strong overall, but like the previous song, not quite outstanding enough. 9/10

"Élan" - Even better than the last two, but still, not quite outstanding enough. 9/10

"Yours Is An Empty Hope" - Aggressive as fuck, brutally heavy, and it absolutely slays the listener. Awesome song. best so far. 10/10

"Our Decades In The Sun" - I love Floor's vocals here, but otherwise this song doesn't do quite what Nightwish intended. At least for me. It's still pretty strong though. 8/10

"My Walden" - This is like a run through the Alps, but I'd rather keep that for Heidi and The Sound of Music, thanks. Not the best Nightwish song, but I guess it's decent enough. 7/10

"Endless Forms Most Beautiful" - Pretty great title track. 9/10

"Edema Ruh" - Okay, this song is awesome. That ABBA-like opening is amazing and the chorus is just beautiful. Love it. 10/10

"Alpenglow" - It's decent but nothing outstanding. 7/10

"The Eyes of Sharbat Gula" - Pretty cool instrumental. 8/10

"The Greatest Show on Earth" - Exactly 24 minutes long, and at times I wonder if it's that length for the sake of being that length. And other times it's a great song. Hmm... Not as bland as "Song of Myself" and not as great as "The Poet and the Pendulum". That puts it at a solid 8/10.

A very epic album but one that could use a few more stand-outs. It's a big step above Imaginaerum but not quite big enough to topple Dark Passion Play as Nightwish's best album. It's solid, but I hope the next album is even better.

Rating: 85%

And that wraps up my Nightwish listen! Was a pretty cool ride overall. Worst to best:

Dark Passion Play - 99%

Century Child - 93%

Wishmaster - 85%

Endless Forms Most Beautiful - 85%

Once - 84%

Oceanborn - 80%

Angels Fall First - 78%

Imaginaerum - 70%

A pretty strong discography overall and with one album that could become a contender for one of my favorite albums ever. Good stuff. Glad I heard it all. All three ladies are great vocalists, Tuomas is a pretty great writer, and Marco... well, he's Marco.